Today, sacred valley tour. First stop on the way is bathroom break. luckily, there was a woman with a few Alpacas and llamas in an enclosure, so your's truly shot happily some portraits of the superb creatures. Alpacas are the smaller woolly animals, whose fur is used to make delicately soft sweaters etc...Llamas on the other hand, are much taller and sturdier, and are used to carry heavy loads around.
Side note:
whilst driving around, the guide points out to the roof of the local dwellings. Most of the houses have 2 small ceramic bulls separated by a cross, installed on top. These are meant to bring luck and drive away evil spirits from the house.
Second stop, the ruins of Pisac. S T U N N I N G...!!! lots of terracing and ruins. I could spend a couple of days there just taking photos!!!!! but after the prelim brief from our guide, we are given 30 minutes only to roam about...!!!! and the site is huge...!!! And not exactly what can be qualified as flat...!!! So I start to run like a wild animal towards the ruins situated higher up the site, stopping every now and then to capture a few shots...despite all this running, I ran out of time, and couldn't manage to get to the summit of the ruins...:( shame, but I come back from it with amazing mental, and actual pictures...:) Macchu is meant to be even more breathtaking...!!! Insane...!!!
Third stop, Pisac colonial town, built in the 17th century over an ancient Inca city. We visit a small silver jewelry manufacturing facility, and roam about the colourful Pisac market, where we are greeted by more hand crafted goods. Seen 1 market, seen them all...!!!
Natural dyes obtained from plants
lunch at around 13:00. Buffet lunch...nothing more to add... ... ... ... ... ...
Francis the ogre...!!!!
Ollantaytambo is our next stop. I thought Pisac would be the highlight of the day. I was sorely mistaken. The place is buried between mountains overlooking a small town whose construction dates back to the Inca times. Some walls have been plastered, and the roofs replaced since, but according to our guide, the rest is pretty much the real deal. We focus our attention on the ruins of the temple, stuck high in the mountain. Endless series of steps lead us to the heart of what should have been the greatest and biggest Inca temple ever built. Construction was started, but came to an abrupt end with the invasion of the Spaniards.
As for all the Inca constructions, humongous rocks have had to be dragged, from a quarry kilometers away, behind a mtn. Apparently, about 15 people were required to move a block of 1 ton. Some of the rocks on site are in excess of 90...!!! time required for each block from quarry to site? roughly 3.5 months...!!!! MENTAL...!!!!
In the distance, on the mountain facing the temple ruins, are huge granaries. The high elevation meant good ventilation, which was required for grain storage, and also protected the grains from floods. The treacherous access meant that it was easier to protect the vital resource...
The structure high up are the granaries...!!!
At the foot of the mtn, lies what used to be an archaeological digging site. The digs unearthed pre-Inca ruins, complete with intact waterways, as designed by the people of the time.
Again, not enough time to visit the whole site. Shame...:(
Final stop, Chinchero, altitude 3,800m. The church again built in the 17th century on a destroyed Inca palace, with the raw materials coming from the dismantled Inca palace. Frescoes cover the whole of the ceiling, and paintings typical of Peruvian Baroque art on the walls. Not really my cup of tea. No pics allowed in churches....
Potatoes left to dry...Can be preserved for months once dry...
We are then treated to a live demo of the different processes involved in the treatment of alpaca wool. The nice Peruvian lady shows us the different plants from which the various colours are obtained.
At some point, she passes around a piece of cactus, covered in some live white mould-like beetles. She picks one of the beetles, puts in on her hand, and crushes it with her finger to reveal a bright red colour. She proceeds to explain that this colour is used widely by the Peruvian ladies as a natural lipstick, which is meant to be smooch proof...!!!! One up on you the L'Oreal and Maybeline and whatever else make of cosmetic gimmick making giants of the western world!!!!
She also demonstrates how by mixing the various natural elements, different shades and colours are obtained.
Next step, she uses a cactus to froth some water, dips the raw dirty alpaca wool in it, and magic, the stuff comes out almost snow white in literally seconds...
A few other women join in the demo to show how the wool is spun into threads, and she proceeds to dye some samples for us. Oh, and by the way, we didn't have to pay to take pictures of the women in their bright colourful clothes doing their demo, which is a refreshing change.
All from natural colours, which apparently, do not fade as quickly as artificial colours... She claims the dyed fabrics retain their vibrancy for years...!!!!
All that to say, that these women are masters at marketing and selling their hand made chiffon, and I was again suckered into spending my hard earned Soles to buy, not 1, but 2 scarves AND a chale...!!! All Alpaca...!!!! And who was naive enough to think they were immune to marketing????:P
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ReplyDeleteIt’s not chifon but fabric… do you still have the scarves? I would definitely want to see and feel the hand made fabric!!! Wish I’d know you earlier would definitely joined
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